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Contents vii
Section II IT Governance 87
Chapter 7 Creating IT Shared Services 88
IT Shared Services: An Overview 89
IT Shared Services: Pros and Cons 92
IT Shared Services: Key Organizational Success Factors 93
Identifying Candidate Services 94
An Integrated Model of IT Shared Services 95
Recommmendations for Creating Effective IT
Shared Services 96
Conclusion 99 • References 99
Chapter 8 A Management Framework for
IT Sourcing 100
A Maturity Model for IT Functions 101
IT Sourcing Options: Theory Versus Practice 105
The “Real” Decision Criteria 109
Decision Criterion #1: Flexibility 109
Decision Criterion #2: Control 109
Decision Criterion #3: Knowledge Enhancement 110
Decision Criterion #4: Business Exigency 110
A Decision Framework for Sourcing IT Functions 111
Identify Your Core IT Functions 111
Create a “Function Sourcing” Profile 111
Evolve Full-Time IT Personnel 113
Encourage Exploration of the Whole Range
of Sourcing Options 114
Combine Sourcing Options Strategically 114
A Management Framework for Successful
Sourcing 115
Develop a Sourcing Strategy 115
Develop a Risk Mitigation Strategy 115
Develop a Governance Strategy 116
Understand the Cost Structures 116
Chapter 9 The IT Budgeting Process 118
Key Concepts in IT Budgeting 119
The Importance of Budgets 121
The IT Planning and Budget Process 123

viii Contents
Corporate Processes 123
IT Processes 125
Assess Actual IT Spending 126
IT Budgeting Practices That Deliver Value 127
Chapter 10 Managing IT- Based Risk 130
A Holistic View of IT-Based Risk 131
Holistic Risk Management: A Portrait 134
Developing a Risk Management Framework 135
Improving Risk Management Capabilities 138
Appendix A A Selection of Risk Classification
Schemes 141
Chapter 11 Information Management: The Nexus
of Business and IT 142
Information Management: How Does It Fit? 143
A Framework For IM 145
Stage One: Develop an IM Policy 145
Stage Two: Articulate the Operational
Components 145
Stage Three: Establish Information Stewardship 146
Stage Four: Build Information Standards 147
Issues In IM 148
Culture and Behavior 148
Information Risk Management 149
Information Value 150
Privacy 150
Knowledge Management 151
The Knowing–Doing Gap 151
Getting Started in IM 151
Appendix A Elements of IM Operations 155
Mini Cases
Building Shared Services at RR Communications 156
Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance 160
IT Investment at North American Financial 165

Contents ix
Section III IT-Enabled Innovation 169
Chapter 12 Innovation with IT 170
The Need for Innovation: An Historical
Perspective 171
The Need for Innovation Now 171
Understanding Innovation 172
The Value of Innovation 174
Innovation Essentials: Motivation, Support,
and Direction 175
Challenges for IT leaders 177
Facilitating Innovation 179
Chapter 13 Big Data and Social Computing 182
The Social Media/Big Data Opportunity 183
Delivering Business Value with Big Data 185
Innovating with Big Data 189
Pulling in Two Different Directions: The Challenge
for IT Managers 190
First Steps for IT Leaders 192
Chapter 14 Improving the Customer Experience:
An IT Perspective 195
Customer Experience and Business value 196
Many Dimensions of Customer Experience 197
The Role of Technology in Customer Experience 199
Customer Experience Essentials for IT 200
First Steps to Improving Customer Experience 203
Chapter 15 Building Business Intelligence 206
Understanding Business Intelligence 207
The Need for Business Intelligence 208
The Challenge of Business Intelligence 209
The Role of IT in Business Intelligence 211
Improving Business Intelligence 213

x Contents
Chapter 16 Enabling Collaboration with IT 218
Why Collaborate? 219
Characteristics of Collaboration 222
Components of Successful Collaboration 225
The Role of IT in Collaboration 227
First Steps for Facilitating Effective Collaboration 229
Mini Cases
Innovation at International Foods 234
Consumerization of Technology at IFG 239
CRM at Minitrex 243
Customer Service at Datatronics 246
Section IV
IT Portfolio Development and Management 251
Chapter 17 Application Portfolio Management 252
The Applications Quagmire 253
The Benefits of a Portfolio Perspective 254
Making APM Happen 256
Capability 1: Strategy and Governance 258
Capability 2: Inventory Management 262
Capability 3: Reporting and Rationalization 263
Key Lessons Learned 264
Appendix A Application Information 266
Chapter 18 Managing IT Demand 270
Understanding IT Demand 271
The Economics of Demand Management 273
Three Tools for Demand management 273
Key Organizational Enablers for Effective Demand
Management 274
Strategic Initiative Management 275
Application Portfolio Management 276
Enterprise Architecture 276
Business–IT Partnership 277
Governance and Transparency 279

Contents xi
Chapter 19 Creating and Evolving a Technology
Roadmap 283
What is a Technology Roadmap? 284
The Benefits of a Technology Roadmap 285
External Benefits (Effectiveness) 285
Internal Benefits (Efficiency) 286
Elements of the Technology Roadmap 286
Activity #1: Guiding Principles 287
Activity #2: Assess Current Technology 288
Activity #3: Analyze Gaps 289
Activity #4: Evaluate Technology
Landscape 290
Activity #5: Describe Future Technology 291
Activity #6: Outline Migration Strategy 292
Activity #7: Establish Governance 292
Practical Steps for Developing a Technology
Roadmap 294
Appendix A Principles to Guide a Migration
Strategy 296
Chapter 20 Enhancing Development
Productivity 297
The Problem with System Development 298
Trends in System Development 299
Obstacles to Improving System Development
Productivity 302
Improving System Development Productivity: What we
know that Works 304
Next Steps to Improving System Development
Productivity 306
Chapter 21 Information Delivery: IT’s Evolving Role 310
Information and IT: Why Now? 311
Delivering Value Through Information 312
Effective Information Delivery 316
New Information Skills 316
New Information Roles 317
New Information Practices 317

xii Contents
New Information Strategies 318
The Future of Information Delivery 319
Mini Cases
Project Management at MM 324
Working Smarter at Continental Furniture International 328
Managing Technology at Genex Fuels 333
Index 336

Preface
Today, with information technology (IT) driving constant business transformation,
overwhelming organizations with information, enabling 24/7 global operations, and
undermining traditional business models, the challenge for business leaders is not
simply to manage IT, it is to use IT to deliver business value. Whereas until fairly recently,
decisions about IT could be safely delegated to technology specialists after a business
strategy had been developed, IT is now so closely integrated with business that, as one
CIO explained to us, “We can no longer deliver business solutions in our company
without using technology so IT and business strategy must constantly interact with
each other.”
What’s New in This Third Edition?
• Six new chapters focusing on current critical issues in IT management, including
IT shared services; big data and social computing; business intelligence; manag-
ing IT demand; improving the customer experience; and enhancing development
productivity.
• Two significantly revised chapters: on delivering IT functions through different
resourcing options; and innovating with IT.
• Two new mini cases based on real companies and real IT management situations:
Working Smarter at Continental Furniture and Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate
Insurance.
• A revised structure based on reader feedback with six chapters and two mini cases
from the second edition being moved to the Web site.
All too often, in our efforts to prepare future executives to deal effectively with
the issues of IT strategy and management, we lead them into a foreign country where
they encounter a different language, different culture, and different customs. Acronyms
(e.g., SOA, FTP/IP, SDLC, ITIL, ERP), buzzwords (e.g., asymmetric encryption, proxy
servers, agile, enterprise service bus), and the widely adopted practice of abstraction
(e.g., Is a software monitor a person, place, or thing?) present formidable “barriers to
entry” to the technologically uninitiated, but more important, they obscure the impor-
tance of teaching students how to make business decisions about a key organizational
resource. By taking a critical issues perspective, IT Strategy: Issues and Practices treats IT
as a tool to be leveraged to save and/or make money or transform an organization—not
as a study by itself.
As in the first two editions of this book, this third edition combines the experi-
ences and insights of many senior IT managers from leading-edge organizations with
thorough academic research to bring important issues in IT management to life and
demonstrate how IT strategy is put into action in contemporary businesses. This new
edition has been designed around an enhanced set of critical real-world issues in IT
management today, such as innovating with IT, working with big data and social media,
xiii

xiv Preface
enhancing customer experience, and designing for business intelligence and introduces
students to the challenges of making IT decisions that will have significant impacts on
how businesses function and deliver value to stakeholders.
IT Strategy: Issues and Practices focuses on how IT is changing and will continue to
change organizations as we now know them. However, rather than learning concepts
“free of context,” students are introduced to the complex decisions facing real organi-
zations by means of a number of mini cases. These provide an opportunity to apply
the models/theories/frameworks presented and help students integrate and assimilate
this material. By the end of the book, students will have the confidence and ability to
tackle the tough issues regarding IT management and strategy and a clear understand-
ing of their importance in delivering business value.
Key Features of This Book
• A focus on IT management issues as opposed to technology issues
• Critical IT issues explored within their organizational contexts
• Readily applicable models and frameworks for implementing IT strategies
• Mini cases to animate issues and focus classroom discussions on real-world deci-
sions, enabling problem-based learning
• Proven strategies and best practices from leading-edge organizations
• Useful and practical advice and guidelines for delivering value with IT
• Extensive teaching notes for all mini cases
A Different Approach to Teaching IT Strategy
The real world of IT is one of issues—critical issues—such as the following:
• How do we know if we are getting value from our IT investment?
• How can we innovate with IT?
• What specific IT functions should we seek from external providers?
• How do we build an IT leadership team that is a trusted partner with the business?
• How do we enhance IT capabilities?
• What is IT’s role in creating an intelligent business?
• How can we best take advantage of new technologies, such as big data and social
media, in our business?
• How can we manage IT risk?
However, the majority of management information systems (MIS) textbooks are orga-
nized by system category (e.g., supply chain, customer relationship
management, enterprise
resource planning), by system component (e.g., hardware, software,
networks), by system
function (e.g., marketing, financial, human resources), by
system type (e.g., transactional,
decisional, strategic), or by a combination of these. Unfortunately, such an organization
does not promote an understanding of IT management in practice.
IT Strategy: Issues and Practices tackles the real-world challenges of IT manage-
ment. First, it explores a set of the most important issues facing IT managers today, and
second, it provides a series of mini cases that present these critical IT issues within the
context of real organizations. By focusing the text as well as the mini cases on today’s
critical issues, the book naturally reinforces problem-based learning.

Preface xv
IT Strategy: Issues and Practices includes thirteen mini cases—each based on a real
company presented anonymously.1
Mini cases are not simply abbreviated versions of
standard, full-length business cases. They differ in two significant ways:
1. A horizontal perspective. Unlike standard cases that develop a single issue within
an organizational setting (i.e., a “vertical” slice of organizational life), mini cases
take a “horizontal” slice through a number of coexistent issues. Rather than looking
for a solution to a specific problem, as in a standard case, students analyzing a mini
case must first identify and prioritize the issues embedded within the case. This mim-
ics real life in organizations where the challenge lies in “knowing where to start” as
opposed to “solving a predefined problem.”
2. Highly relevant information. Mini cases are densely written. Unlike standard
cases, which intermix irrelevant information, in a mini case, each sentence exists for
a reason and reflects relevant information. As a result, students must analyze each
case very carefully so as not to miss critical aspects of the situation.
Teaching with mini cases is, thus, very different than teaching with standard cases.
With mini cases, students must determine what is really going on within the organiza-
tion. What first appears as a straightforward “technology” problem may in fact be a
political problem or one of five other “technology” problems. Detective work is, there-
fore, required. The problem identification and prioritization skills needed are essential
skills for future managers to learn for the simple reason that it is not possible for organi-
zations to tackle all of their problems concurrently. Mini cases help teach these skills to
students and can balance the problem-solving skills learned in other classes. Best of all,
detective work is fun and promotes lively classroom discussion.
Toassistinstructors,extensiveteachingnotesareavailableforallminicases.Developed
by the authors and based on “tried and true” in-class experience, these notes include case
summaries, identify the key issues within each case, present ancillary
information about the
company/industry represented in the case, and offer guidelines for organizing the class-
room discussion. Because of the structure of these mini cases and their embedded issues, it
is common for teaching notes to exceed the length of the actual mini case!
This book is most appropriate for MIS courses where the goal is to understand how
IT delivers organizational value. These courses are frequently labeled “IT Strategy” or
“IT Management” and are offered within undergraduate as well as MBA programs. For
undergraduate juniors and seniors in business and commerce programs, this is usually
the “capstone” MIS course. For MBA students, this course may be the compulsory core
course in MIS, or it may be an elective course.
Each chapter and mini case in this book has been thoroughly tested in a variety
of undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs at Queen’s School of Business.2
1
We are unable to identify these leading-edge companies by agreements established as part of our overall
research program (described later).
2
Queen’s School of Business is one of the world’s premier business schools, with a faculty team renowned
for its business experience and academic credentials. The School has earned international recognition for
its innovative approaches to team-based and experiential learning. In addition to its highly acclaimed MBA
programs, Queen’s School of Business is also home to Canada’s most prestigious undergraduate business
program and several outstanding graduate programs. As well, the School is one of the world’s largest and
most respected providers of executive education.

xvi Preface
These materials have proven highly successful within all programs because we adapt
how the material is presented according to the level of the students. Whereas under-
graduate students “learn” about critical business issues from the book and mini cases
for the first time, graduate students are able to “relate” to these same critical issues
based on their previous business experience. As a result, graduate students are able to
introduce personal experiences into the discussion of these critical IT issues.
Organization of This Book
One of the advantages of an issues-focused structure is that chapters can be approached
in any order because they do not build on one another. Chapter order is immaterial; that
is, one does not need to read the first three chapters to understand the fourth. This pro-
vides an instructor with maximum flexibility to organize a course as he or she sees fit.
Thus, within different courses/programs, the order of topics can be changed to focus on
different IT concepts.
Furthermore, because each mini case includes multiple issues, they, too, can be
used to serve different purposes. For example, the mini case “Building Shared Services
at RR Communications” can be used to focus on issues of governance, organizational
structure, and/or change management just as easily as shared services. The result is a
rich set of instructional materials that lends itself well to a variety of pedagogical appli-
cations, particularly problem-based learning, and that clearly illustrates the reality of IT
strategy in action.
The book is organized into four sections, each emphasizing a key component of
developing and delivering effective IT strategy:
• Section I: Delivering Value with IT is designed to examine the complex ways that
IT and business value are related. Over the past twenty years, researchers and prac-
titioners have come to understand that “business value” can mean many
different
things when applied to IT. Chapter 1 (Developing and Delivering on the IT Value
Proposition) explores these concepts in depth. Unlike the simplistic value propo-
sitions often used when implementing IT in organizations, this
chapter
presents
“value” as a multilayered business construct that must be effectively
managed at
several levels if technology is to achieve the benefits expected. Chapter 2 (Developing
IT Strategy for Business Value) examines the dynamic
interrelationship between
business and IT strategy and looks at the processes and critical
success
factors
used by organizations to ensure that both are well aligned. Chapter 3 (Linking IT
to Business Metrics) discusses new ways of measuring IT’s
effectiveness that pro-
mote closer business–IT alignment and help drive greater business value. Chapter
4 (Building a Strong Relationship with the Business) examines the nature of the
business–IT relationship and the characteristics of an effective relationship that
delivers real value to the enterprise. Chapter 5 (Communicating with Business
Managers) explores the business and interpersonal competencies that IT staff will
need in order to do their jobs effectively over the next five to seven years and what
companies should be doing to develop them. Finally, Chapter 6 (Building Better IT
Leaders from the Bottom Up) tackles the increasing need for improved leadership
skills in all IT staff and examines the expectations of the business for strategic and
innovative guidance from IT.

Preface xvii
In the mini cases associated with this section, the concepts of delivering
value with IT are explored in a number of different ways. We see business and
IT
executives at Hefty Hardware grappling with conflicting priorities and per-
spectives and how best to work together to achieve the company’s strategy. In
“Investing in TUFS,” CIO Martin Drysdale watches as all of the work his IT depart-
ment has put into a major new system fails to deliver value. And the “IT Planning
at ModMeters” mini case follows CIO Brian Smith’s efforts to create a strategic
IT plan that will align with business strategy, keep IT running, and not increase
IT’s budget.
• Section II: IT Governance explores key concepts in how the IT organization is
structured and managed to effectively deliver IT products and services to the orga-
nization. Chapter 7 (IT Shared Services) discusses how IT shared services should be
selected, organized, managed, and governed to achieve improved organizational
performance. Chapter 8 (A Management Framework for IT Sourcing) examines
how organizations are choosing to source and deliver different types of IT functions
and presents a framework to guide sourcing decisions. Chapter 9 (The IT Budgeting
Process) describes the “evil twin” of IT strategy, discussing how budgeting mecha-
nisms can significantly undermine effective business strategies and suggesting
practices for addressing this problem while maintaining traditional fiscal account-
ability. Chapter 10 (Managing IT-based Risk) describes how many IT organizations
have been given the responsibility of not only managing risk in their own activities
(i.e., project development, operations, and delivering business strategy) but also
of managing IT-based risk in all company activities (e.g., mobile computing, file
sharing, and online access to information and software) and the need for a holistic
framework to understand and deal with risk effectively. Chapter 11 (Information
Management: The Nexus of Business and IT) describes how new organizational
needs for more useful and integrated information are driving the development of
business-oriented functions within IT that focus specifically on information and
knowledge, as opposed to applications and data.
The mini cases in this section examine the difficulties of managing com-
plex IT issues when they intersect substantially with important business issues.
In “Building Shared Services at RR Communications,” we see an IT organiza-
tion in transition from a traditional divisional structure and governance model
to a more centralized enterprise model, and the long-term challenges experi-
enced by CIO Vince Patton in changing both business and IT practices, includ-
ing information management and delivery, to support this new approach. In
“Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance,” CIO Jane Denton endeavors
to make IT more flexible and agile, while incorporating new and emerging tech-
nologies into its strategy. In “IT Investment at North American Financial,” we
show the opportunities and challenges involved in prioritizing and resourcing
enterprisewide IT projects and monitoring that anticipated benefits are being
achieved.
• Section III: IT-Enabled Innovation discusses some of the ways technology is
being used to transform organizations. Chapter 12 (Innovation with IT) examines
the nature and importance of innovation with IT and describes a typical inno-
vation life cycle. Chapter 13 (Big Data and Social Computing) discusses how IT
leaders are incorporating big data and social media concepts and technologies

xviii Preface
to successfully deliver business value in new ways. Chapter 14 (Improving the
Customer Experience: An IT Perspective) explores the IT function’s role in creating
and improving an organization’s customer experiences and the role of technology
in helping companies to understand and learn from their customers’ experiences.
Chapter 15 (Building Business Intelligence) looks at the nature of business intelli-
gence and its relationship to data, information, and knowledge and how IT can be
used to build a more intelligent organization. Chapter 16 (Enabling Collaboration
with IT) identifies the principal forms of collaboration used in organizations, the
primary business drivers involved in them, how their business value is measured,
and the roles of IT and the business in enabling collaboration.
The mini cases in this section focus on the key challenges companies face in
innovating with IT. “Innovation at International Foods” contrasts the need for pro-
cess and control in corporate IT with the strong push to innovate with technology
and the difficulties that ensue from the clash of style and culture. “Consumerization
of Technology at IFG” looks at issues such as “bring your own device” (BYOD) to
the workplace. In “CRM at Minitrex,” we see some of the internal technological and
political conflicts that result from a strategic decision to become more customercen-
tric. Finally, “Customer Service at Datatronics” explores the importance of present-
ing unified, customer-facing IT to customers.
• Section IV: IT Portfolio Development and Management looks at how the IT
function must transform itself to be able to deliver business value effectively in
the future. Chapter 17 (Application Portfolio Management) describes the ongoing
management process of categorizing, assessing, and rationalizing the IT application
portfolio. Chapter 18 (Managing IT Demand) looks at the often neglected issue of
demand management (as opposed to supply management), explores the root causes
of the demand for IT services, and identifies a number of tools and enablers to
facilitate more effective demand management. Chapter 19 (Creating and Evolving
a Technology Roadmap) examines the challenges IT managers face in implement-
ing new infrastructure, technology standards, and types of technology in their real-
world business and technical environments, which is composed of a huge variety of
hardware, software, applications, and other technologies, some of which date back
more than thirty years. Chapter 20 (Enhancing Development Productivity) explores
how system development practices are changing and how managers can create
an environment to promote improved development productivity. And Chapter 21
(Information Delivery: IT’s Evolving Role) examines the fresh challenges IT faces in
managing the exponential growth of data and digital assets; privacy and account-
ability concerns; and new demands for access to information on an anywhere, any-
time basis.
The mini cases associated with this section describe many of these themes
embedded within real organizational contexts. “Project Management at MM” mini
case shows how a top-priority, strategic project can take a wrong turn when proj-
ect management skills are ineffective. “Working Smarter at Continental Furniture”
mini case follows an initiative to improve the company’s analytics so it can reduce
its environmental impact. And in the mini case “Managing Technology at Genex
Fuels,” we see CIO Nick Devlin trying to implement enterprisewide technology for
competitive advantage in an organization that has been limping along with obscure
and outdated systems.

Preface xix
Supplementary Materials
Online Instructor Resource Center
The following supplements are available online to adopting instructors:
• PowerPoint Lecture Notes
• Image Library (text art)
• Extensive Teaching Notes for all Mini cases
• Additional chapters including Developing IT Professionalism; IT Sourcing; Master
DataManagement;DevelopingITCapabilities;TheIdentityManagementChallenge;
Social Computing; Managing Perceptions of IT; IT in the New World of Corporate
Governance Reforms; Enhancing Customer Experiences with Technology; Creating
Digital Dashboards; and Managing Electronic Communications.
• Additional mini cases, including IT Leadership at MaxTrade; Creating a Process-Driven
Organization at Ag-Credit; Information Management at Homestyle Hotels; Knowledge
Management at Acme Consulting; Desktop Provisioning at CanCredit; and Leveraging
IT Vendors at SleepSmart.
For detailed descriptions of all of the supplements just listed, please visit http://
www.pearsonhighered.com/mckeen.
CourseSmart eTextbooks Online
CourseSmart is an exciting new choice for students looking to save money. As an alter-
native to purchasing the print textbook, students can purchase an electronic version of
the same content and save up to 50 percent off the suggested list price of the print text.
With a CourseSmart etextbook, students can search the text, make notes online, print
out reading assignments that incorporate lecture notes, and bookmark important pas-
sages for later review. www.coursesmart.com.
The Genesis of This Book
Since 1990 we have been meeting quarterly with a group of senior IT managers from
a number of leading-edge organizations (e.g., Eli Lilly, BMO, Honda, HP, CIBC, IBM,
Sears, Bell Canada, MacDonalds, and Sun Life) to identify and discuss critical IT manage-
ment issues. This focus group represents a wide variety of industry sectors (e.g., retail,

manufacturing, pharmaceutical, banking, telecommunications, insurance, media, food
processing, government, and automotive). Originally, it was established to meet the com-
panies’ needs for well-balanced, thoughtful, yet practical information on emerging IT
management topics, about which little or no research was available. However, we soon
recognized the value of this premise for our own research in the rapidly evolving field
of IT management. As a result, it quickly became a full-scale research program in which
we were able to use the focus group as an “early warning system” to document new IT
management issues, develop case studies around them, and explore more collaborative
approaches to identifying trends, challenges, and effective practices in each topic area.3
3
This now includes best practice case studies, field research in organizations, multidisciplinary qualitative
and quantitative research projects, and participation in numerous CIO research consortia.

xx Preface
As we shared our materials with our business students, we realized that this issues-
based approach resonated strongly with them, and we began to incorporate more of our
research into the classroom. This book is the result of our many years’ work with senior
IT managers, in organizations, and with students in the classroom.
Each issue in this book has been selected collaboratively by the focus group after
debate and discussion. As facilitators, our job has been to keep the group’s focus on IT
management issues, not technology per se. In preparation for each meeting, focus group
members researched the topic within their own organization, often involving a number
of members of their senior IT management team as well as subject matter experts in
the process. To guide them, we provided a series of questions about the issue, although
members are always free to explore it as they see fit. This approach provided both struc-
ture for the ensuing discussion and flexibility for those members whose
organizations
are approaching the issue in a different fashion.
The focus group then met in a full-day session, where the members discussed all
aspects of the issue. Many also shared corporate documents with the group. We facilitated
the discussion, in particular pushing the group to achieve a common understanding of
the dimensions of the issue and seeking examples, best practices, and guidelines for deal-
ing with the challenges involved. Following each session, we wrote a report based on the
discussion, incorporating relevant academic and practitioner materials where these were
available. (Because some topics are “bleeding edge,” there is often little traditional IT
research available on them.)
Each report has three parts:
1. A description of the issue and the challenges it presents for both business and IT
managers
2. Models and concepts derived from the literature to position the issue within a con-
textual framework
3. Near-term strategies (i.e., those that can be implemented immediately) that have
proven successful within organizations for dealing with the specific issue
Each chapter in this book focuses on one of these critical IT issues. We have learned
over the years that the issues themselves vary little across industries and organizations,
even in enterprises with unique IT strategies. However, each organization tackles the
same issue somewhat differently. It is this diversity that provides the richness of insight
in these chapters. Our collaborative research approach is based on our belief that when
dealing with complex and leading-edge issues, “everyone has part of the solution.”
Every focus group, therefore, provides us an opportunity to explore a topic from a

variety of perspectives and to integrate different experiences (both successful and oth-
erwise) so that collectively, a thorough understanding of each issue can be developed
and strategies for how it can be managed most successfully can be identified.

About the Authors
James D. McKeen is Professor Emeritus at the Queen’s School of Business. He has been
working in the IT field for many years as a practitioner, researcher, and consultant. In
2011, he was named the “IT Educator of the Year” by ComputerWorld Canada. Jim has
taught at universities in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States.
His research is widely published in a number of leading journals and he is the coau-
thor (with Heather Smith) of five books on IT management. Their most recent book—IT
Strategy: Issues and Practices (2nd ed.)—was the best-selling business book in Canada
(Globe and Mail, April 2012).
Heather A. Smith has been named the most-published researcher on IT management
issues in two successive studies (2006, 2009). A senior research associate with Queen’s
University School of Business, she is the author of five books, the most recent being IT
Strategy: Issues and Practices (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012). She is also a senior research
associate with the American Society for Information Management’s Advanced Practices
Council. Aformer senior IT manager, she is codirector of the IT Management Forum and
the CIO Brief, which facilitate interorganizational learning among senior IT executives.
In addition, she consults and collaborates with organizations worldwide.
xxi

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night in these huts, the apex of the roof being the only outlet for the
smoke, which the unfortunate natives accept as the only alternative
from being stung to death by the puny tormentor. The only way to
breathe in the huts is to lie down flat on the floor, where, owing to
the draft caused by the low door, about one foot or fifteen inches of
space is left free from the choking effect of the smoke.

II.
HE WHO FIGHTS AND RUNS AWAY.”
URING supper, which we took outside the hut, we were
surrounded by a gaping and chattering crowd of natives of
both sexes and all ages. The number increasing every
moment, we began to feel that even armed as we were,
fourteen men would be but a small force as compared to
the hundreds around us. However, up to the time when we crept in
to our hut the behaviour of the Natives was as friendly as could be.
Our barter for spears, shells, necklaces, and other curios was carried
on fairly, and evidently to the satisfaction of all concerned.
At about ten o’clock we closed the aperture of the crib, lit our
cigars, took a stiff night-cap, and laid down to breathe as we best
could in the stifling smoke which filled the place. Sailors will sleep
anywhere and anyhow, so will Caledonian natives. In a few minutes
the snoring all around convinced me that I was the only watcher.
What with mosquitos and smoke I would certainly have kept awake
all night, even had I not been aroused as I was by a rustling noise in
the straw wall of the hut, and the black hand of a native trying to
force his way into our quarters.
As soon as his woolly head appeared, I seized it with one hand,
putting a revolver to his ear with the other. I dragged him through,
in so doing waking up my mates. Through the interpretation of one
of our Native catechists, we heard the boy’s story—that the Natives
on whose ground we were encamped had made up a plot to fire the
grass around our hut, and during the confusion into which we would
be thrown by their war whoop added to the conflagration, spear or
tomahawk us, in order to secure our trade goods and fire-arms, as
well as the supply of fresh meat half a score of European bodies
would afford them.

There was not much time left us for either reflection or planning
an escape. We quickly crept out of the hut one by one, and found
that the information was not only correct, but the fires were already
being kindled in a large circle, of which we were the centre. The
Natives could be easily seen in large numbers on the outer side of
the circle of fire, the chief standing amongst a crowd—luckily for us
on the land side, leaving the path to the river bank comparatively
free from Natives. The chief held in his hand the insignia of office—a
long spear with a white shell on the end of it, which was quite
descernible by the glare of the blazing grass. We held a consultation
as to the best and most likely way to startle the savages, so as to
make good our retreat to the river, cross it, and make for Balade as
speedily as possible. Captain Case had in his hand a double-barrelled
fowling piece, with one rifle barrel. It was suggested that he should
fire the first shot in the air in order to draw the natives’ attention,
and with the rifle barrel take aim at the shell on the chief’s spear.
On that shot depended the lives of fourteen men, and I am bound
to say our friend’s calm and deliberate aim for that momentous shot
denoted a true British tar’s firmness. A crack, followed by a terrific
yell, told us that the scheme had succeeded. The natives in a body
gathered round their chief to see the wonderful destruction of his
talismanic shell, shattered into invisibility by Captain Case’s shot.
Before they could even notice our departure, we were making
hasty tracks for the water, following in the wake of our native
guides, whose marvellous instinct and thorough knowledge of the
locality proved quite as useful as our friend’s skill at a target. They
found not only the shortest path to the Giahot, but amongst the high
reeds on the banks of that stream several canoes, which we
annexed to convey our party across, and cut off communication with
the wretches who had so treacherously attempted to give us a
warmer reception than we had contemplated. When on the top of
the range dividing the river from Balade, we saw the glare of our
own pyre, and heard the chattering and yells of the fiends—caused,
no doubt, by the discovery of the loss of their canoes, and doubtless

also that of the anticipated supper or breakfast they had purposed
having at our expense.
We reached the Mission at daybreak, and the same day fifty men,
under command of one of the lieutenants and one of our party, went
back and gave the Kanakas a lesson they have not forgotten to this
day. The boy who saved our lives was a lad of twelve or fourteen,
intelligent and bright. He gave a thorough explanation of the whole
plot to the Rev. Father Montrouzier, who, fearing that the boy’s life
might be endangered if he stayed on the island, induced me to take
him away, for a time, at all events, with the youngster’s sanction;
and having christened him “Joachim,” which he at once pronounced
“Sokymy,” I enlisted him in my service. A better, more useful servant,
and more faithful follower, I never had, for the seven years he lived
with me. Poor boy, like most of the South Sea Islanders, he died of
pleurisy, accelerated by exposure.

III.
ANOTHER NARROW SQUEAK.”
AVING discharged cargo, and parted from the Athenian
and our gallant friend, Captain Case, I removed my
belongings to the Pocklington and sailed for Sydney,
intending to shorten the sail by trying a short cut through
a group of islands at the north-west end of New
Caledonia. Captain Oliver, who had often traded for sandal-wood in
this part of the world, assured me that this route was quite safe, and
that he had often sailed through the channel with vessels of deeper
draught. Our first two days’ navigation were glorious—smooth sea,
fine weather—sailing during the day amongst lovely islands, and
anchoring at night with every appearance of safety so long as a
good watch was kept on the natives’ canoes, which never failed to
come alongside as soon as the anchor was dropped.
My new valet, “Sokymy,” even at that early stage proved most
useful to us. Though he could not speak to us he knew well what
the natives said, and could easily enough make us understand that
they had better be kept at a distance.
On the second night the barometer fell considerably, and before
morning the wind chopped suddenly from S.E. to N.W., blowing hard
until it became almost a gale. The poor old brig began to drag
towards the shore. We let go another anchor, but still at every
successive wave which struck our bows we felt that sudden jerk and
grating noise which indicates the dragging of the anchor. The
distance between the stern of the Pocklington and the shore was
visibly decreasing—a fact which evidently became quite as apparent
to the natives on shore as it did to us on board, who felt by no
means reassured when we noticed the exulting jubilation of the
cannibals—evidently reckoning on immediate plunder and feasting!

The position was critical, the danger imminent, the prospect
anything but cheering.
Captain Oliver, like my friend Captain Case of the Athenian, was
cast in the mould which has produced so many heroes in the British
Navy—men in whom sterling worth only comes to light in moments
of danger. The critical position of the brig demanded immediate
action. Our crew consisted of a dozen Tanna natives, with only three
Europeans on board besides the skipper, the mate, the cook, the
steward, and myself. We were barely fifty yards from the beach,
where hundreds of natives, already up to their waist in water, were
throwing spears at any one whose head appeared above the taffrail.
Captain Oliver got us to bring up a hawser on to the deck. This
was made fast round the foot of the main-mast; a freshly-ground
axe was placed in my hands; orders given to get the jib and spanker
ready for hoisting and sheeting home; the hawser made fast to the
chain of one anchor, whilst the other was cast adrift. This hawser
being amidships, the brig at once swung round; the spanker being
sheeted tight gave the craft some headway; the jib being hoisted
she got under way, and the order was given to chop the hawser.
Had my blow at this piece of hemp failed to sever it through, this
book would never have been written. As it was, the poor old brig
and its living freight had a very narrow shave. As we paid off slightly
to get more way on her she grazed the coral reef on the lee side,
but, however, got clear, and a few moments later we had the
gratification to feel that we were in deep water, under close-reefed
topsails, making headway towards Australia. We reached Sydney in a
week, none the worse for having on two occasions disappointed the
natives of New Caledonia, and deprived them of what might have
been a three-course dinner. In both instances they would have had
French, English, and native dishes—quite a recherche menu for a
cannibal’s feast.

IV.
A SOUTH SEA TRIP.”
ROLLING stone gathers no moss.” I am afraid I have
proved the truth of the old adage. A fortnight in
Sydney proved quite as much as I could stand. I
always had a great desire to see Torres Straits and the
islands on the northern side of it. There happened to
be in Port Jackson a small French barque—Le Juste, from Havre—the
captain being the owner of the vessel. I made an offer to him of a
charter by the month for six months, giving him a share of the
venture, my route being Torres Straits, New Guinea, Borneo, the
Malay Archipelago, Mauritius, Bourbon, Madagascar, and back to
Sydney. Being nearly as mad as I was, Captain Leneveu accepted my
offer. We at once set to work, put on board a few brass swivel guns,
some muskets and small arms, articles of South Sea Island trade;
and, as was then the custom for a trip through the Straits, waited a
few days until other ships bent on the same dangerous errand were
ready to start.
On the 28th of June, everything being ready, we started
northwards—the Scotia, one of Dunbar’s old East India ships—
leading the van, followed by our barque, and two smaller craft
bound for the Strait Settlements. Fine weather and smooth water
brought us in eleven days to the Great Barrier Reef, which we
passed safely, anchoring at night off Bird’s Island.
Captain Strickland, as commodore, entertained us gloriously on
board the Scotia to commemorate our safe passage through the
Barrier and bid us farewell—our course being north for the coast of
New Guinea at daybreak next morning.

Navigating on the west side of the Barrier Reef is quite a pleasure
trip as far as sea or weather are concerned; the only trouble, at least
in the “fifties,” was the very imperfect hydrography of the locality,
and the great caution sailors had to resort to in order to avoid the
innumerable coral reefs and submarine dangers, which can only be
avoided by a very careful watch from the foretop, where a man had
constantly to be on the look-out.
Our first land was at Darnley Island, where we met the first
Papus, some having a smattering of pigeon English. We engaged
one of them to pilot us to the mouth of the Fly river, which we made
out easily without ever having recourse to our sable friend, who
seemed quite happy on board so long as he could keep within range
of the galley and have the lion’s share of every meal going, whether
cuddy or fore-castle. The fellow seemed to have the most capacious
appetite, was an inveterate smoker, and certainly anything but a
total abstainer. It is a marvellous thing how all natives take naturally
and kindly to smoking tobacco and drinking ardent spirits.
Anchoring close to Kiwai Island, we were at once boarded by
scores of natives, and did a fair amount of trading for curios, shells,
and arms, but nothing of any commercial value. Some of the clubs
had specs of yellow metal inlaid in the handles; treatment with aqua
fortisproved this metal to be gold. From inquiries made through the
very imperfect interpretation of our pilot and my New Caledonian,
Sokymy, we gathered that this gold was found a long way up the Fly
river. All my entreaties with Captain Leneveu to sail up the river in
one of the boats could not prevail upon him to concede the favour.
As he very justly said, it would be unsafe both for him or I to take
away one half of the crew to man the boat, leaving the other on
board with only a few hands—there being always, and in spite of us,
some scores of natives on our decks, besides hundreds hovering
round in canoes. We had a few runs on shore, but did not dare to
lose sight of the boats.
After a couple of days wasted at this anchorage, we dropped our
Papu friend and steered west, coasting New Guinea as closely as the

skipper deemed it prudent to do, and dropping anchor every
afternoon when the sun prevented our look-out man from seeing the
colour of the water ahead of the ship. We called at the Arrow Islands
with about the same success, all trading being confined to curios
and some tortoise-shell. So far our trip, though a most enjoyable
one, was rather unprofitable. I therefore made up my mind that we
should make a direct course for Timor.
Continuing our pleasurable sail—more like yachting on a lake than
a sea voyage—we reached the pretty Dutch settlement at Koepang. I
had some letters of credit for Messrs. Hansen, Bonliang Co., a firm
half Dutch, half Chinese; and also a letter to the Resident or
Governor of the place. In 1854, Koepang was not often visited by
traders. The Juste was a very smart little ship; we had a very nice
cabin, a good cook, fair wines, and the captain a bon vivant, so that
ere we had been in Timor many days we had managed to gain a
very fair footing with the inhabitants of Koepang.
Our boats, provided with awnings, were kept constantly plying to
and from the shore, laden with visitors of all ranks and both sexes.
Shooting and fishing parties were organised, pic-nics and dinner
parties without end were given in our honour. But the most
enjoyable were riding-parties by moonlight, on those wonderfully
active ponies for which this island is justly famous.
We purchased here some tons of bees-wax, some very fair coffee,
maize, and a large quantity of lime, which proved a very good
investment for Mauritius. My intention, however, being to take a
cargo of ponies, we took an interpreter (or broker) on board and
sailed for Roti, Sandalwood, and the other small islands of the
group, to trade for ponies—Koepang having already been pretty well
skinned of anything good in that line. Even in the other islands I
found it very hard to pick up more than eighty of average size,
quality, or colour—the piebald or skewbald being in any quantity, but
black, bays, chestnuts, and more particularly greys, were very
scarce. The latter are the most valued, either to buy or sell. It took
us three weeks to make up our number, but the days were enjoyably

spent in hunting with the natives after the herd, and buying as we
went along.
Horse-dealing, whether in Europe or the Malay islands is
synonymous with roguery and deceit. Every morning as soon as we
landed we were besieged by natives who had ponies for sale.
Knowing our aversion for piebalds, they never offered anything but
blacks, bays, or chestnuts; but, unfortunately, few if any of those
offered could stand the first scrubbing with hot water and soap—the
dye would not stand the test. As to filing teeth and burning age-
marks, I’ll back a Malay against the best and most accomplished
horse-dealer in Yorkshire.
Our cargo, put on board with fodder and water for fifty days,
averaged £4 a-head. They were all good, healthy young ponies,
some of them rather cranky-tempered, but all well up to the mark.
Having returned to Koepang to land our broker, and after a most
affectionate greeting from all our friends, we made sail for Port
Louis. Another fine weather and smooth sea trip, when we never
once lowered a stan’-sail except to reeve a fresh halyard to prevent
its breaking from constant friction in the one place, against the
sheave of the block at the yard-arm.
This is not a work intended to describe localities which, more
particularly since my day, have been visited by almost every man,
woman, or child who has come from or gone for a trip to Europe. I
will therefore abstain from descanting on the beauty or
picturesqueness of Mauritius. Still, to those who have only known
the Isle of France of late years, I must say that it materially differs
from what it was thirty-five years ago, and that even then it had
very much lost of its originality as I had seen it ten years earlier. For
all that, it is a most charming place; and were it not that its old,
proverbially healthy condition has gone for ever—were it not for
cholera, smallpox, and other such dreadful but periodical visitations
—that island would still be a most charming country to visit or reside
in. We spent six weeks in Port Louis, did remarkably well with our

cargo, bought a cargo of sugar, and once more steered for old
Australia.
But alas! not with smooth weather and fair winds. The poor old
barque, so buoyant and brisk when in yachting trim, smooth water,
and under every inch of canvas spread to the trade winds—became
a tub when filled with sugar to the very deck-level, in heavy seas,
S.W. gales, and close-reefed topsails.
Shall I ever forget the fifty-four days cooped up in my cabin, water
rushing from stem to stern day and night, not a stitch of dry clothing
to change! What a welcome sight the Sydney Heads were, and how
glad I was to set foot once more on terra firma.

I.
A FEW OLD IDENTITIES.”
HIS last trip had given me a surfeit of the sea, and I made
up my mind to settle down. In order to do so I looked
about for some land having a prospective value, and at last
fixed on a spot on one of the estuaries of Port Jackson,
between the Parramatta and the Lane Cove rivers, a
narrow peninsula known as Hunter’s Hill.
A good deal of this land had been mixed up in some of the early
“land booms.” The principal portion belonged to Mrs. Reiby, better
known in olden times as “Margaret Catchpole.” Some blocks had
been mortgaged by Terry Hughes to the Bank of Australia—a bank
that failed in the crisis of 1842. Owing to these intricacies, and
doubtful titles, the purchase was made on advantageous terms. The
work of securing a sound title was in itself an incentive to purchase
the property, which I did in spite of all the forebodings and croakings
of my friends.
I must confess that the locality did not enjoy a very wholesome
reputation. The Lane Cove river is bounded on one side by the Field
of Mars common—some 6800 acres of land which was, and had
been, “jumped” by some very rough people—old convicts, runaway
sailors, and jail-birds—who eked out a living by stealing timber and
boating firewood to Sydney.
One of the landmarks in the river—the “Butcher’s Block”—owed its
name to a foul murder. “Murdering Bay,” and “Tambourine Bay,” also
had a blood-stained chronicle. On Hunter’s Hill proper there were
also some reminiscences of the old felonry of New South Wales—one
of the grants having been the property of the Quaker, Towel, who

suffered the highest penalty of the law at Newgate for the murder of
his servant-maid.
Had I the pen of a romancer I could here depict some thrilling
stories, and record bloodcurdling anecdotes.
The “old hands” then living on the Lane Cove river in 1854 have
now joined the great majority. Dear old Mrs. Reiby, as worthy and
beloved an old lady as ever lived, often related to me the scenes so
ably related by the Rev. Archbold Cobbold in his “History of Margaret
Catchpole.” Hers is one of the many instances of the random justice
dispensed in England in the early days of the present century, when
people were sent out to Botany Bay for crimes which now would
barely go beyond the jurisdiction of a Police Court bench.
“Black Charley,” “Billy the Bull,” and sundry other old identities, like
the Quaker “Towel,” were, however, characters of a different type;
and though they had more luck than the latter, and escaped the
rope, their career in New South Wales was not altogether free from
occasional encounters with the “beak.” The body of a Jamaica black-
fellow—one of the firewood dealers of the Field of Mars—was one
day found on a projecting rock, the head almost severed from the
trunk; hence the name “Butcher’s Block.” The perpetrators of the
deed were never traced, but I have strong suspicions that the
murderers did not live very far from the spot.
Tambourine Bay, close at hand, took its name from a well-known
person, whose “shanty” was built close by. This “lady” had musical
proclivities, and a particular talent for the instrument generally
played now-a-days by the corner man of a minstrel show.
“Tambourine Sal,” however, did not end her days in that locality.
Whether her beauty or her musical talent availed her, I cannot say;
but she rose out of her abject position, got married, and—romantic
though it may sound—one of her grand-children has since figured
among the “highest in the land”—another of the many instances of
the “progress of New South Wales.”

There are two more old identities of the Lane Cove river which I
think are worthy of notice in this narrative. The first might be
remembered by old colonists, who may have seen old “French Louis”
paddling his small canoe across Darling harbour two or three times a
week, or heard his rather rough language as he wended his
unsteady steps back to his boat. This almost centenarian was French
by birth, and had run away from a whaler at the beginning of the
century. In the time when land could be easily acquired he had
purchased a water frontage at Miller’s Point, where he resided in a
bark hut, working on the wharves and on board ships in the harbour.
During a drunken spree he sold his property for a bottle of rum and
a “dump” (the centre part of a crown punched out, which, to
multiply coinage, had then a value equal to the rim of the five-
shilling piece.) When sober, he vainly endeavoured to regain
possession of his grant papers. Failing in this, he gave himself up to
drink, and so impaired his intellect that he was driven out of the city,
and took refuge under a rock at the entrance of the Lane Cove river,
eking out a living by the sale of oysters, which he took over to
Sydney in an outrigger—s.s. Island Canoe—and, I am sorry to say,
seldom returned sober, until I chanced to come across him, and by
dint of patient and close examination elicited his past history.
It was rather a difficult matter to redeem this unfortunate old
man. However, by gradually gaining his confidence, I succeeded in
removing him to the French Consulate, housing him comfortably in
one of the out-buildings, where the poor old chap spent the last year
of his life in comfort and sobriety. He died in peace, and, strange to
say, on the very spot which he had bartered for a paltry coin and a
bottle of the diabolical mixture which deprived him of both his
reason and a fortune.
During one of my first excursions in this ill-famed district I landed
in one of the bays to make inquiries as to the ownership of a piece
of adjoining land. In a very dilapidated hut, devoid of furniture of
every kind—indeed, without any apparent signs of even food—I
found an old man, barely covered with tattered garments, haggard-

looking, emaciated, almost a living skeleton; and, worse still, stone
blind! Despite the wretched condition he was in, one could detect in
the looks, and more particularly in the address of this unfortunate
creature, an undeniable stamp of gentility. A few moments’
conversation sufficed to convince me that my first impression was a
correct one. This poor creature, formerly a Civil Servant attached to
the staff of Sir Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales, like
many unfortunate beings, had by his early folly lost his situation, and
found great difficulty in getting other employment. Sickness, and at
last the gradual loss of his sight, caused him to reach that degree of
poverty which is a hundred-fold worse to a man brought up in
luxury.
Having had to part gradually with even his garments, he was at
last driven to live amongst the waifs of the city. When I found the
unfortunate wretch, he was living on the very scant charity of the
wood-cutters in the locality—sometimes days without food, and
barely covering enough for his shivering body.
On inquiry I found that the sad tale was true, in every word, and I
lost no time in altering the deplorable state of his affairs. With the
help of a few friends a fund was raised, the hut repaired and
furnished, and every comfort provided for the poor fellow. We
imported books for the blind, which he very soon taught himself to
read. Eventually I built my own house close to the spot, and for
fourteen years seldom allowed a day to pass without spending a few
moments with my protégé—a man of highly cultured education, with
a wonderful memory, and truly a most entertaining companion.
During the stay of the Galatea in Sydney, in 1870, H.R.H. the Duke
of Edinburgh, to whom I related the man’s history, became very
much interested in the sad case; and although it has often been said
that the sailor Prince lacked in kindness of heart or liberality, I feel
great pleasure in stating that even the dreadful shock he sustained
when he was foully shot at by O’Farrell at Clontarf, did not make him
forget old Mr. Viret. When the Galatea was about leaving the port, I

was summoned to Government House. The Duke was in the midst of
his packing up prior to leaving. He met me most cordially, saying—
“I have not forgotten your blind friend, Mr. Joubert. Please send
me the name and address of his friends in London. I shall send for
them and see if I cannot prevail on them to make him an allowance.
Meanwhile I wish you to give him my best wishes, together with this
small present,”—which consisted of a five-pound note. The message,
I must say, caused the poor old fellow even greater pleasure than
the munificent donation, which, nevertheless, proved very
acceptable. The poor man died whilst I was away from the colony,
but to the last he was carefully looked after by the members of my
family, and the circle of friends who had rallied round him since he
had been enabled to resume the outer appearance of gentility, and
been honoured by a Royal Duke. Such is life!

II.
A LAND SPECULATION.”
LL All these, and many other stories of the kind, certainly
did not improve the market value of this land for
suburban villa sites. It had, however, the effect of
keeping the price low—there laid the speculation. I
bought the place with a perfect and thorough knowledge
of its foul reputation, and set to work in real good earnest to redeem
it—the position being good, the proximity to town an advantage, and
above all the fact that this peninsula, with a main thoroughfare on
the top of the hill, running from Ryde to Onion’s Point, admitted of
sub-divisions giving deep water frontages to every allotment. All that
was needed was some easy mode of access to and from the city,
and, if possible, the closing up of the Field of Mars common, which,
besides being a harbour for questionable characters, cut off the
settlement from Ryde, Pennant Hills, and Parramatta.
The only road to Sydney was a circuitous one involving a crossing
of the Parramatta river by means of an antiquated punt ferry at
Tarban—a distance of eleven miles; as the crow flies the actual
distance from Hunter’s Hill to the Sydney Post Office is barely four
and a-half miles.
But in order to carry the bee-line from the one point to the other it
was necessary to cross the water twice—first from Pyrmont to
Balmain, then again from Five Dock to the northern side of the
Parramatta River, near the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum. These two
bridges, and the formation of the road, I estimated at £60,000. To
raise that amount I proposed that the Government should re-assume
the Field of Mars common; issue debentures bearing 5 per cent.
interest, payable in 20 years; build the bridges, and, when the
thoroughfare was open, survey and cut up the common, which I felt

convinced would, besides benefiting all parties concerned, leave a
fair margin of profit, and open up a large area of Government land
now entirely locked up owing to want of access.
The first meeting to discuss this scheme I called at the end of
1853. Like all such matters, it met with most violent opposition—first
of all from John Bull and his rights. The common had been given to
the people—what right had the Government to take it back? Then
every man wanted the bridge at his own door. The thousand and
one difficulties raised against the scheme—the dead-set opposition,
in and out of Parliament—far from deterring me from my object,
acted as a stimulant. The fight was a long and bitter one to the very
end, but the end came at last.
Thirty-three years, almost to a day, after the first meeting held in
No. 227 George street, in 1853, the bridges were finished and
opened for public traffic; and since that day several sales of land
have been held in the Field of Mars common—the results showing
that my first estimate of the value of that land was under-rated.
During the thirty years’ war for the bridges, other means had to
be resorted to to bring population to Hunter’s Hill. The Parramatta
river trade was a monopoly. Steamers, calling at unsuitable hours,
charged an exorbitant rate. The company was an old-established
and powerful one, and all attempts to run an opposition had failed.
So did all endeavours to get anything approaching unanimity
amongst the few people interested in the locality. Messrs. P. N.
Russell and Co. had on hand a small screw steamer which they were
anxious to sell. I looked at her, and after some haggling, chartered
her at a low monthly figure for six months, with right of purchase.
On the first of the following month the “Isabel” made her
appearance at the wharf, and in lieu of 2s. 6d. single, carried
passengers to and from Sydney at 1s. return. The first week or two
proved rather uphill work, but when the first month came to an end
the number of passengers increased materially, and it soon became
evident that a larger boat would be required.

The neck of the monopoly was broken. Overtures were made for a
compromise, fares were lowered, accommodation increased; but all
of no avail. I made up my mind that we should remain independent,
and from that day to this we have remained so. The fleet of
handsome, swift boats belonging to Hunter’s Hill have all originated
from the little unpretending “Isabel,” which all the jeering, ridicule,
and bitter jealousy of its powerful opponents could not put down.
She was nick-named the “Jezebel” and the “Puffing Billy,” and her
safety was cried down. But she kept up her course in spite of it all,
and with all her insignificance proved to be the originator of a new
line which has tended to bring up the value of land from £5 an acre
to £5 a foot!! The opening of the direct communication over the
bridges has also, as it was natural to expect, brought on railways
and trams from the city, and further increased the value of the land,
which has now reached £10 and £15 a foot, and converted the
locality into one of the most populous, thriving suburbs of Sydney.
Building having always been a favourite hobby of mine, led me to
put up a good many houses at Hunter’s Hill. In order to carry out my
building scheme, and to do so profitably, I sent home to Lombardy
for some artisans under special contract. This, as might be expected,
gave rise to a good deal of discontent amongst the working class.
However, I had made a very binding agreement with my men, and
held them more particularly by the fact that they had no knowledge
of English. Besides, on the first attempt made to turn them off their
engagements, I at once met the difficulty by a system of piece-work,
which enabled them to work long hours, and actually make wages
far beyond their expectations. When my operations at Hunter’s Hill
came to an end, the assistance of these seventy odd tradesmen
enabled me to take contracts in and around Sydney for large
buildings, wharves, c., which we carried out on the co-operative
system most profitably, in spite of trades and trades’ unions.

III.
A HARD KNOCK.”
AD I kept at such works, and left mercantile pursuits to
those who were better able to cope with such risky
ventures, things might have prospered better; but,
however, fate would have its way, and the consequence,
hastened by the failure of the Agra Bank, led me into a
loss of £54,000, which swallowed up all my hard-earned savings,
properties, c. Once more I had the world before me.
It is not in my nature to throw up the sponge, nor am I given to
moping over pecuniary losses. My creditors proved their appreciation
of the manner of working out the estate by presenting me with the
deeds of the place I had built for myself on the banks of the Lane
Cove river. There I stayed, looking around for a new field.
The Agricultural Society of New South Wales, of which I was a
member, held a meeting in February, 1867, when a very
unsatisfactory balance-sheet, showing a debit balance, was
produced. A resolution proposed to wind up and close that
institution, was seconded, and would have been carried, had I not
moved as an amendment, “That, instead of winding up this useful
institution, it be re-constructed on a broader basis, a new council
appointed, the seat of the society removed from Parramatta to
Sydney, and a show advertised in the course of six months from
date, offering £800 in prize-money, and certificates for horses,
cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, wool, wine, farm and dairy produce, as
well as implements, machinery, and manufactures.” The meeting was
rather taken aback by the bold proposal, but there were amongst
the members of the moribund society a few men such as Sir E. Deas
Thomson, Sir W. MacArthur, John Oxley, John Wyndham, Howard
Reid—now, I am sorry to say, all gone to join the great majority.

These were the men to help any country or society out of difficulties.
I had very little trouble, with the co-operation of such help-mates, in
reconstructing the society on a new and firm basis. I gladly entered
into my new honorary functions.
The Cleveland Paddock (now the Prince Alfred Park) was then a
quagmire with a filthy drain running across it—a plague spot. This I
at once selected for our new show-grounds. Draining, fencing in,
and levelling, were easy works, soon accomplished. Having obtained
the free use of the newly-erected Cleveland School, for fine art,
manufacturers’, and horticultural exhibits, I built sheds, pens, c., all
over the paddock. Entries came in far in excess of our most sanguine
expectations. The great day was approaching.
The 26th of August came, but with it one of those downpours
which are only met with in tropical and semi-tropical countries. Our
poor show certainly looked very dismal. The first day was something
disastrous. On the night of the 26th, however, stars came out—mine
must have been among them. On the 27th the gate returns gave
£l,100! This kept up well throughout the four days; but what
crowned all our efforts was the high price realised for all the blood
stock offered at auction.
It had been a bold enterprise, but the great success achieved
amply rewarded us for our hard work.
As the old adage has it, “Nothing succeeds like success.” Before
the end of the year our members’ roll had increased from 63 to
2000. The society was fairly on its legs, with a substantial credit
balance, central offices, a library, laboratory, c., c., and last,
though not least, a monthly journal. The gratitude of the stock-
breeders, as well as that of the citizens of Sydney, for having
brought about such a result, assumed a very tangible form. A service
of silver plate and a heavy purse of sovereigns was presented to me
at the annual general meeting, when I was asked to assume the
management of the concern.

This is the origin of the exhibitions which for many years have
been held annually in Sydney and other cities in Australia.
The success of this first attempt, however, showed the necessity
to have permanent buildings, and at the suggestion of the Council of
the Agricultural Society, the Corporation of the city of Sydney
obtained parliamentary sanction to appropriate the Cleveland
Paddock, endow it, and erect the building which stands there still,
and has proved of so much use to the city for exhibitions and other
great public gatherings.
Following in the footsteps of the Agricultural Society of New South
Wales, similar institutions have been started in other parts of the
colony, in Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. The great
improvement in the breed of stock, as well as the development of
many of the resources of the Australian colonies, are in a great
measure due to the efforts of the indefatigable members of the
council of that useful institution, which, I am sorry to say has, I am
told, come to an untimely end owing to mismanagement and the
jealous element of the various branches.

IV.
HOME, SWEET HOME.”
T was during my secretaryship of the Agricultural Society of
New South Wales that we originated the notion of holding an
International Exhibition in Sydney and Melbourne, as a
sequel to the Exposition Universelle of 1878 (Paris). In order
to work up this scheme I was deputed to go to France, and
whilst there acted as secretary to the New South Wales Commission.
This trip to Europe, after an absence of forty years, I look upon as
one of the brightest events in my long career. I had never felt home-
sick, but still, as I came nearer and nearer to my native home, all
the old love came back for the dear spot. I can hardly convey the
feeling of delight I experienced when the train approached the great
city, and in the hazy distance I once again recognised the outline of
the familiar, and, to all French-born, beloved Paris!!
My almost childish love for Paris had helped me from afar to follow
all its vicissitudes. I had read with heart-breaking feelings the sad
events of the several revolutions, the Franco-German war, the siege;
and, worse than all, the Commune. I had read in all their
heartrending details the destruction and desecration of that
marvellous city, and I must confess was amazed to find it more
marvellous, handsomer, more enchanting than ever! With the
exception of the Tuileries and the Palace of St. Cloud, not a vestige
of the vandalism of the Commune, not a trace of the barbaric
invasion of the Germans were left. Like the Phœnix of the fable,
Paris had risen from its ashes brighter and more attractive than ever.
Forty years is a long time to be away from one’s native land, yet
as soon as I landed I found myself quite at home. I delighted in long
rambles in the old familiar haunts. The morning after my arrival I

threw open the window of my bedroom, at the Hotel du Nouvel
Opera, in the Chaussée d’Antin, recognised the Rue Joubert
opposite, and at once remembered that this well-known and familiar
street (named after my uncle) led straight to the gates of the
College Bourbon, where I had spent so many of my school days. The
temptation was irresistible. I ran downstairs straight for the old spot,
and without any hesitation through the courtyard into the class-
room, to the precise form where so many years ago I had sat.
Lost in thought, I did not notice the entrance of the old portière,
who querulously called upon me to explain such an untimely visit.
My attempt at an explanation evidently confirmed her suspicions of
the insanity she very naturally attributed to me. It took some
persuasion, weighted by the irresistible gift of a five-franc piece, to
make her believe that I was in reality one of the old pupils. A further
explanation brought out the fact that her husband was the
“drummer boy” of my school days. A few moments’ chat with the
“boy,” now advanced in years, made matters easy, and from him I
ascertained that of all the old masters only one remained—Mons.
Chapuizy—living on a small pension, in the Rue St. Fiacre. Having
ordered a cab, I drove down to that address, ascertained that the
dear old professor had rooms on the fifth flat, where I readily found
the venerable gentleman—just out of bed—wrapped up in a tattered
old morning gown. His reception, like that of the portière, was at
first rather stiff; the name on my card did not avail to wake up his
memory.
It was only after many reminiscences brought to his mind that he
resolved on offering me a chair. His first questions were rather
amusing. He had evidently more knowledge of classics than of
geography. New South Wales, Sydney, even Australia itself, seemed
quite unknown to him. From the abject surroundings of the
apartment, I guessed the penury of the occupant; and in order to
loosen effectually the tongue of Mons. Chapuizy, I suggested that he
should dress and accept a déjeuner at the nearest best restaurant,
where, within half-an-hour, we sat in a private room. A couple of

bottles of wine, and a breakfast such as I am sure the old gentleman
had not seen for many days, quite melted his heart, and brushed off
the cobwebs which evidently clouded his memory.
From him I ascertained the whereabouts of some eight or ten of
my old schoolmates, whom I at once wrote to, and within a few
days got up a meeting, which, during the whole of my stay in
France, was adjourned from week to week, and any new schoolmate
hunted up in the interim was summoned to attend. Had it been
possible to have had a résumé taken of these meetings, it would
indeed have made up a most interesting volume.
As each member was brought he had to give a history of the last
forty years. Coming from the antipodes I, of course, had the honour
of being “the lion.” Still, some of the others had some interesting
incidents to relate. Several had been in the army, some in the Civil
Service; one—Leon Say—was then Minister of Finance, a post he
had held during the Provisional Government after the Commune,
when France, emerging from the sad trials of the war, lay bleeding
and prostrate.
During that sad period the southern provinces had suffered from a
most disastrous flood. Subscriptions had to be made for the victims
of this new disaster. The Government cabled to Australia to get the
Consul in Sydney to obtain contributions from New Caledonia to the
fund. Knowing the poverty of that French colony, an idea came into
my head that if the matter was promptly handled I could raise in
Sydney some substantial assistance.
I accordingly asked the Premier (Sir John Robertson) for leave to
get the use of the cable to Versailles, and from the manager of the
Bank of Australasia leave to remit by cable whatever money I could
collect up to 10 p.m. that day. Having made these preliminary
arrangements, I started a door to door subscription; and such is the
kind-hearted liberality of Australians that I was able to remit £800
that same night, and £400 more on the following day. 30,000 francs
remitted from the antipodes, actually reaching Versailles within a

week after the occurrence of the calamity—before Paris even had
had time to organise a general subscription—seemed rather startling
to the French Government. When Leon Say met me at our weekly
gathering, and found out that I was the originator of this timely
offering, he insisted on bringing the matter before the President of
the Republic—old Marshal McMahon—who conferred upon me the
Legion of Honour, together with his and the Duchess’ portrait,
accompanied with an autograph letter, which I prize above all other
rewards.

V.
ANTIPODEAN GRATITUDE.”
URING the period of the Exhibition, and owing to my having
to deal officially on behalf of the colonies for the
international shows to be held in Sydney and Melbourne in
the following year, I had naturally to come in close contact
with many of the leading men of that period. For a time it
was very doubtful whether we could get the assistance of the
European Powers. They all kept aloof; and, in spite of the willingness
of my friend, Leon Say, the Parliament positively vetoed the proposal
made to vote money and send a French transport with the exhibits.
Our opponent was the all-powerful Gambetta, leader of the
Opposition and Chairman of the Budget. He was the sole arbiter of
the destiny of our Exhibitions, and, they said, could not be moved.
We were in despair, when a vote of 5,000,000 francs was
proposed for a cable from Noumea to Cape Sandy. The discussion on
that matter was a long and bitter one; I happened to be in the
House at the time. Gambetta fought hard against the vote. The
discussion having been adjourned, I sought an interview with the
great man, and complimenting him on his brilliant speech and on his
evident omniscience, I pointed out to him that owing to the position
of the Middleton Shoal lying in the way of the proposed cable, its
being placed there was a practical impossibility. Gambetta at once
sent for charts of New Caledonia and the eastern coast of Australia,
saw the truth of my statement, grasped my hand, and
acknowledged that I had furnished him with an irrefutable argument
to win his case.
On the spur of the moment he asked me what he could do in
return. The Exhibition vote, of course, was my object. Gambetta
went carefully and minutely into the matter—inquired into the trade,

past, present, and future, between Australia and France—and being
fully aware of the importance of a thorough representation, gave me
a short note for the Minister of Commerce, asking him to move to
have the £10,000 credit put again on the Budget. It was one of M.
Gambetta’s best speeches when he recanted all he had said on a
previous occasion against the project, carried the vote, the granting
of a transport, and the appointment of a Commission; and, since
then, the subsidy of the Messageries and the establishment of
branches of the Comptoir d’Escompte in Melbourne and Sydney. To
this small matter great results are due—another instance of the truth
of the old fable of the mouse and the caged lion.
I cannot say that on my return to Australia I found much gratitude
for “services rendered.” During my passage back some good friends
(?) had managed to throw cold water down my back, and on my
arrival in Sydney I found all the offices in connection with the
Exhibition filled.
Even the secretaryship of the Agricultural Society was taken from
me. After seventeen years of hard work to make it what it was, I
was politely requested to resign. I had to accept the
commissionership of New Caledonia to secure an official entrée to an
Exhibition which I conceived from the first, and, without boast can
say, carried out in all its details up to its—failure!—for, after all, it
was a great financial failure, like all such undertakings when carried
out by Government, tied up in red tape, and bungled by committees.
What I say of the Sydney I repeat as regards the Melbourne show.
Ten years have made Victoria older, but not wiser. The issue of the
Centennial bears out my statement.
To say that I did not feel keenly the ingratitude of New South
Wales would be an untruth. I did feel it most bitterly; and although I
had looked upon that colony as my home, so bitterly did I feel the
treatment that I made up my mind for evermore to leave it. But in
so doing I also resolved that, cost what it might, I would prove
practically the statement I had made, that Exhibitions well managed

could not possibly show a loss. I accordingly waited until the close of
the Melbourne Exhibition to start one in Adelaide, Perth,
Christchurch, and at last one on a gigantic scale in Calcutta—larger
than even that of Sydney or Melbourne.
I will quote Lord Ripon’s words at the closing ceremony of that
great Indian Exhibition:—
“We cannot allow this day to pass without recording publicly the
great obligations that are due to Mr. Joubert for the success of this
Exhibition. I confess that when he first intimated his intention to
hold an Exhibition in the capital city of India I looked upon it as an
impracticable scheme. Mr. Rivers Thompson, however, held a
different opinion, and I am happy to-day to acknowledge that Mr.
Joubert has most nobly redeemed all his promises, fulfilled most
honourably all his engagements, and deserves the thanks, not only
of the Government of India, but of the whole population of this
empire.”
Such words are an ample reward for all my trouble and labour.
They have acted soothingly on the sore points which New South
Wales had raised.
My stay in India was a long holiday, in spite of the hard work the
Exhibition entailed; and before I leave the subject I might jot down a
few of the reminiscences of my life and adventures in the East.

I.
GRAINS OF SINGALESE SAND.”
HAD to make two voyages to India before I took up my
quarters there. In each of these, owing to the exchange of
boats at Ceylon, I had to stay in that delightful island a
fortnight on each trip. This delay anywhere else would be an
abominable nuisance, but there is so much to see in Ceylon,
and the people there are so graciously hospitable, that one does not
mind the delay—at least, I did not; far from it.
My first visit was on my way to the Paris Exhibition in 1878. At
that time Galle was the stopping-place, and the delay did not extend
over a couple of days—just time enough to visit Wak-wallah and the
surrounding district; long enough, however, to wish for a more
extended stay in so delightful an earthly paradise.
Like all fresh arrivals in Ceylon we were rather perplexed as to the
sex of its inhabitants. The weather being rather more than tropical,
we proposed, prior to dinner, an adjournment to the various bath-
rooms of the hotel, and gave orders accordingly. When I entered my
bath-room I was rather startled to find there what I considered a
rather prepossessing “young person,” who offered to assist in the
operation contemplated to cool my body after the exertions of the
day. In view of the petticoats, long black hair, high pole-comb, and
effeminate appearance of my bath attendant, I felt inclined to resent
the intrusion, until perfectly satisfied that this individual belonged to
that portion of humanity upon whom the Queen is allowed to confer
the companionship of that distinguished order—the Bath.
On my return to Ceylon in 1882 the port of call for nearly all mail
steamers had been removed to Colombo—a great improvement on

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